Gwinnett County and metro Atlanta boast one of the most highly educated and diverse workforces in the nation with more than 35 percent of Gwinnett’s 25-or-older population holding a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Leading metro Atlanta in job creation, Gwinnett County has maintained one of the lowest unemployment rates in the region consistently since 2009. Gwinnett’s number of unemployed individuals shrank by over 6,300. Employment rose by 34,000 over the same period, the highest of any Metro Atlanta 5 Core Counties.

Below is a list of higher education options in the metro Atlanta area:

Established in 1988 as the consolidation of Atlanta University and Clark College, Clark Atlanta University (CAU) is a private school with a predominantly African-American heritage. Located in the heart of Atlanta, CAU offers 38 areas of study and educates over 3,900 students in undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. As the largest and only coeducational undergraduate institution in the prestigious Atlanta University Center to grant doctoral degrees, CAU is also the largest member of the nation’s 38-member UNCF (United Negro College Fund) institutions.

Emory University, located in the historic Druid Hills suburb of Atlanta, benefits 13,893 undergraduate and graduate students through a liberal arts education. While still remaining dedicated to teaching, Emory generates more research funding than any other Georgia university. Emory’s prestigious ratings and rankings are numerous and include being named 13th by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance for “Best Values among Private Universities” (2011-2012) and Goizueta Business School ranking 3rd (2011) by Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

Located in the heart of Atlanta, Georgia Tech educates over 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students. One of the nation’s top research universities, Georgia Tech offers degrees in mathematics, computing, engineering, architecture and more.

Educating students since 1913, Georgia State University currently has an enrollment of approximately 32,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Offering more than 250 degree programs with 100 fields of study at the bachelor’s, master’s, specialist and doctoral levels, Georgia State is also recognized as the Southeast’s leading urban research institution. Georgia State also boasts standing on the list of the top 100 public universities for awarded doctoral degrees.

As one of America’s oldest institutions of higher learning, Mercer University provides over 8,200 undergraduate, graduate and professional students a liberal arts education. It offers programs at three Georgia campuses: Macon, Atlanta and Savannah and four Regional Academic Centers are located throughout the state. For the 13th consecutive year, Mercer University has made the Top 10 in U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of comprehensive universities in the South.

Originally founded in 1867 as Augusta Institute, Morehouse College is a private, historically black liberal arts college for men. Located on a 66-acre campus in Atlanta, its mission is to develop men with disciplined minds who will lead lives of leadership and service. Morehouse offers 26 majors across Business Administration and Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences and Science and Mathematics and is one of only a handful of liberal arts colleges to offer a leadership studies minor.

Founded in 1835, Atlanta’s Oglethorpe University provides over 1,000 students with a liberal arts university. As a member of the Annapolis Group, an organization of America’s most selective liberal arts institutions, Oglethorpe University has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll since 2006 and consistently ranks among the best colleges by Princeton Review and Forbes.

Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a private, independent, liberal arts college originally established for African American women. Located just five minutes west of downtown Atlanta, Spelman educates over 2,100 students from 41 states and 15 foreign countries. Spelman College is a part of the largest association of historically black institutions of higher learning in the world and its Women’s Research and Resource Center is the first of its kind devoted to curriculum in women’s studies on an African American college campus.